The Théâtre du Palais-Royal (or Salle du Palais-Royal) on the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris was a theatre in the east wing of the Palais-Royal, which opened on 14 January 1641 with a performance of Jean Desmarets' tragicomedy Mirame. The theatre was used by the troupe of Molière from 1660 to 1673 and as an opera house by the Académie Royale de Musique from 1673 to 1763, when it was destroyed by fire.[1] It was rebuilt and reopened in 1770, but again was destroyed by fire in 1781 and not rebuilt.[2]

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First theatre

The Palais-Royal was originally known as the Palais-Cardinal, since it was built in the 1630s as the principal residence of Cardinal Richelieu.[3] In 1637 Richelieu asked his architect Jacques Le Mercier to begin work on the theatre, which opened in 1641 and was initially known as the Great Hall of the Palais-Cardinal.[1][4] Upon Richelieu's death in 1642, he left the property to King Louis XIII, and it became known as the Palais-Royal, although the name Palais-Cardinal sometimes still continued to be used.[5]

Paris Opera

Lully's Armide as performed at the first Salle du Palais-Royal in the revival of 1761

On the death of his old collaborator, Lully ejected Molière's troupe to a new home at the Hôtel de Guénégaud and re-used the theatre as the opera house of the Académie royale de Musique (the name of the Paris Opera at the time). Lully had much building work done on it in order to allow the installation of new stage machinery designed by Carlo Vigarani, capable of supporting the imposing sets of the operas he would later put on here. This replaced the old machinery designed by Giacomo Torelli in 1645.[1] After Vigarani's modifications the theatre had a total capacity of about 1,270 spectators: a parterre for 600 standing, amphitheatre seating for 120, and boxes with balconies accommodating another 550. The stage was 9.4 meters across and 17 meters deep, with space in front for the orchestra 7.6 meters across and 3 meters deep.[7]

The theatre continued to be used by the Opera until 8 June 1781, when it too was destroyed by fire. The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, much further to the north on the Boulevard Saint-Martin, was hurriedly built in two months to replace it. In the meantime the opera company performed in the Salle des Menus-Plaisirs on the rue Bergère.[2]